Chapter 2

Soon, nightfall came, and Ethan was still outside on the lawn. No one had come out to get him. It had always been like this; the firstborn son was always more important than the second. Ethan knew what everyone was thinking now: that he had done it all on purpose. Even Arthur had thought he had lied to him. There was no going back from this. He was a horrible brother.

While he wallowed in his thoughts, there came a small creak from the door. His mother stepped through it. She made her way out onto the soft grass toward him, knelt, and brushed her hand softly across the bruise on his cheek.
“Arthur is going to be okay. He’s doing fine now,” she said gently. Ethan let out a small sob and leaned into his mother. She took him, and he cried quietly in her arms.
“I didn’t mean to, Mum. I have never cast magic in my life. I don’t know why it did that!” he sobbed. She patted him on his back but didn’t say anything. They sat there like that for a while.
“You know, when something like this happens. All we can really do is apologise and move on. It has already happened, and you can’t change the past. Can I trust you to apologise to your brother when he wakes up?” she asked. Ethan sat up and nodded. She put her hand on his head and ruffled his hair. “That’s my boy.”
“What am I going to do if he doesn’t accept my apology?” he croaked out.
“You’re just going to have to live your life asking him to forgive you. If you love him, you’ll try to find any way you can to make it up to him. If he still doesn’t accept your apology, then you just have to accept his feelings and move on with your own life,” Ethan nodded. She then pulled him up and held him by his shoulders, her eyes boring into his.
“Now, promise me, no more magic until you get a teacher.”
“Okay, I promise,” he replied quickly.
“Good, let’s head inside and have some dinner, then bed.” They both made their way inside and up the stairs. When they reached the top, Ethan saw that Arthur’s bedroom light was on and his door was open just a crack. As they walked past, Ethan peered in and saw a mage leaning over a large four-poster bed, saying words under his breath. A soft light was emanating from the bed. Ethan’s father came up near the door and stared at Ethan. His mother put a hand on his shoulder and steered him away to his own bedroom.
“Now, go get ready for bed. I’ll have a maid deliver dinner in the next 10min or so,” then she left him alone in his room. Ethan stood there. His brain was foggy, his head was aching, and he just wanted to crawl into his bed and wake up again from this nightmare. There came a knock on the door, and a maid walked in with a tray. She gently set it on a small table near the bed. She didn’t say a word, bowed quickly, and rushed out of the room. He walked over to the tray and picked up the glass of water, staring at the way it glinted in the room's soft candlelight. Then he threw the glass on the ground. It smashed to pieces, glass scattering everywhere. He crawled into his bed and put the blankets over his head. A few minutes passed, but no one entered his room. It looked like no one had heard the sound. What right did he have for someone to even think of him at this moment?

It was around 3 a.m. when Ethan woke up. He opened his blurry eyes. That was when he heard the crunch of glass. His eyes started to focus on the black outline of someone standing in his room. Tingles ran up and down his spine. It looked to be a man dressed all in black. His face was also covered by a black mask. He lay still, the man hadn’t noticed he was awake. He was staring at the glass on the floor. Ethan slowly slid to the other side of his bed, trying not to make any noise. It was best that he put the bed between him and the man. He kept an eye on the man as he put his feet on the ground on the other side, the man started walking forward to where he had laid before. Creeping low to the ground, Ethan made his way slowly around the side of the bed. He made it to the bottom of the bed when he heard the sheets being pulled off and a small grunt of surprise. That was when Ethan made a dash for the door. There was a cry behind him and he pulled open the door, running into the hallway. His hearth thumped in his chest.

“Assassins! Mum, dad!!” He shouted loudly. He ran to his brother’s room. There he saw his mother at his brother’s bed, she raised her head as he came in.

“Ethan?” What’s wrong?” she asked groggily. He ran over to her side.

“Mum! There’s assassins in the house! There was one in my room!” She frowned at what he said.

“It could’ve been just a dream sweetie,” she said brushing his sweaty hair off his forehead. He shook his head.

“I’m not dreaming mum.”

“Ethan?” A small soft whisper came. Ethan looked at the bed for the first time. He almost cried out loud. His brother lay there, his eyes open slightly but one side of his face was burned badly. His head was wrapped up in a white, tight bandage. There was a green salve on the red parts of his face. Probably medicine to soothe the pain.

“Oh, brother. I’m so sorry,” Ethan whispered, forgetting all about the assassin. His brother lay here, burnt and in pain because of him. It was all his fault, now he wished the assassin had just killed Jim. Arthur didn’t say anything to his apology. Just closed his eyes in pain and opened them back up again.

Then in a soft gravely voice he said “I don’t accept your apology.” Ethan felt a cold hand grip his heart and he looked to the ground. His mother put a comforting hand on his back.

“Let’s take you back to bed,” she said softly. He nodded and she took him to the door, except when they opened it. Someone pushed them apart. A hand grabbed his harm like a vice. It was the assassin that was in his room before.

“Mum!” He shouted. He saw another assassin had his mother. He had her hands behind her back. His mother’s eyes were wide with fear.

“Ethan!” She cried. He tried to shake off the hand and get to his mother but then a hand came around with a thick smelling cloth. He tried to get away but the cloth was pushed onto his face. The smell was terrible and overpowering. His world was spinning, becoming hazy.

“Ethan!” Another cry came from the room. His brother was calling after him too. So he did still care for him. He was falling to the ground now. He felt his body go weightless and then it was pitch black after that.